Bring Down That Wall

In too many of our churches, there is a wall, not made of brick and mortar, or even drywall, but just as real. Although rarely acknowledged, this wall effectively divides musicians and other artists from pastors and teachers.

In most cases, the wall is not erected intentionally or maliciously, yet it blocks vital communication and damages Sunday services more than we know. Even if they can’t identify it, those who attend our churches sense the wall’s existence—largely because the hour on Sunday feels disjointed or inexplicably “off” somehow. Instead of experiencing an integrated service that takes them on a spiritual journey, our congregations get a jerky shift from part one of the service to part two.

My ministry requires me to span two worlds: the world of teaching pastors and the world of artists. Because I function in both worlds, I have a front row seat when it comes to the challenges on each side of the wall.

Generally speaking, pastors/ teachers and artists are wired differently. They may not naturally choose one another as close friends. Yet the first step toward creative collaboration is building a relationship. Pastors and artists need to understand one another better if they are going to work together for the good of the church.

Bringing down the wall and building trust requires sacrifice. Perhaps the biggest sacrifice of all is time, arguably our most precious commodity. But I can’t imagine a better use of a pastor’s time, if the hope is that Sunday morning would reach its full potential for transformation and wonder.

So here’s my challenge to pastors: take an artist to lunch!

Pastors should make the first move. The artists in our churches may be too tentative to ask the pastor to lunch, and they may even be shocked at the invitation. At lunch, choose to be a phenomenal listener. Ask questions about the artist’s life, about his or her process in creating music or drama or lighting or whatever their discipline might be. Dare to ask for feedback about whether your church is a safe place for the artist to experiment, to offer creative ideas, to explore possibilities, and even to risk failure.

Yes, artists need to understand pastors as well, and that will happen as time goes on. But for now, move toward the artists in your church. Even pick up the bill. And watch as the wall that separates you slowly comes down.

Nancy Beach is teaching pastor and creative arts director at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois.

What is Worship?

I think all music—not just Christian music, but all music—is worship music, because every song is amplifying the value of something. There’s a trail—of our time, our affections, our allegiance, our devotion, our money—that leads to a throne, and whatever’s on that throne is what we worship. We’re all doing a great job of it because God has created us to be worshipers. The problem is that a lot of us have really bad gods.—Louie Giglio in Current Thoughts and Trends

As a young worship leader, I focused on creating worship experiences. But increasingly, I’m focusing on the God of our experience, not the experience itself.

It’s entirely possible to feel close to God without really focusing on who He is, to work ourselves into a worship euphoria without distinguishing between god generic and God incarnate.

In this age of spiritual pluralism, that difference is pivotal. Do we lead people into the throne room of a generic god, or do we draw them into the presence of the One, revealed and made eternally accessible to us in Jesus Christ?—Sally Morganthaler in The Heart of Worship Files